Mail-bag receiving and delivering apparatus.



L. V. ECKERT 6e 1. F. BURKE.

MAiL BAG RECEIVING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION. FILED JAN. 2.1917.

1 ;38,135. Patented Nov. 5, 1918.

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L. V. ECKERT & J. F. BURKE. MAiL BAG RECEIVING-AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.-

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2.1917.

Patented Nov. 5,1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

By D Afior/aey Wz'hzesses W 21. M

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFEQE.

LOUIS V. ECKERT AND JAMES F. BURKE, OF CHILLICOTHE. MISSOURI, ASSIGNORS OF ONE-THIRD 1"0 THOMAS H. BURKE, 0F CHILLICOTHE, MISSOURI.

MAIL- BAG- RECEIVING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 5, 1918.

Application filed January 2, 1917. Serial No. 140,216.

This invention relates to an improvement in mail bag receiving and delivering apparatus, and particularly to apparatus of this character which can be mounted upon a mail car and upon the ground adjacent to the track on which the car is to travel and which means is so constructed that the ground device is placed a sufficient distance from the track that injury to the postal clerk or other person who might be leaning'fromthe doors or windows of the mail car or of other cars connected in a train therewith will not be injured by being struck by the parts of the ground device, while the car device is so arranged that it may be swung to an inoperative position and may thus be placed to offervery little projection from the side of the car.

' An object of our invention is to provide a structure as'above set forth, which has the parts thereof so arranged that mail bags may be received and delivered at one and the same time by the use of a single set consisting of the ground device and the train device.

A further object lies in so arranging the parts of the two devices comprisinga complete set of the apparatus, that the mail bag is positively held and supported against falling until the parts arranged to secure the same are rendered inoperative by cooperative action of the remaining mechanism.

Yet another object is to provide means by which the parts may be held in the operative position and in an inoperative relation and will be positively secured against casual displacement.

With the above and other objects in view, our invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter set forth in connection with the drawings and then more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:-

Figure l is a view in elevation showing the train and the ground devices in their cooperating relation. c

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the disclosure in Fig. 1. V

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view to better show the supporting arm for the train device.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view showing. the receivlng device for the train and is a section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 IS a sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. l.

The car is generally indicated at 1, and

the post which forms the support for the ground device at 2, and it will of course be understood that the structure to be hereinafter described is in all of its parts attached to the car when the structure of the train device is being considered, and is mounted on or adjacent to the post :2, when the parts of the grounddevice are considered.

The supporting arm 3, the exact construction of which is better shown in F ig.-3 of the drawings, is provided with an opening 4 at one end thereof and a brace rod 5 is provided with the bearing mounted through the brackets 7 and 8 and through this opening 4 of the supporting bar in such relation that the supportlng bar is held to be capable of swinging movement with respect to the bracket and to extend in a substantially horizontal plane. A bolt 9,

.or other suitable securingmeans is passed through the end of the brace member 5 and through the opening 10 in the supporting bar or arm 3 and thus this arm is given the proper support from the bracket. The

bracket 7 is provided with a stop 11, which is so located that when the supporting arm 3 has been swung to extend outwardly at right angles to the side of the car, further movement thereof is stopped, and the openings 12 are provided through the supporting arm .3

portion 6 which is I and through the outstanding portion of the bracket 8, which openings are brought into registry when the swinging movement of the arm is halted by the stop 11, and then the pin 13 may be inserted through these registering openings and the arm 3 will be held against return swinging movement.

Adjacent to its outer ends, the arm 3 is slotted through as shown at 1 1, and a mail bag retaining arm 15 is mounted in suitable bearings 16 by the use of the rivet or pin 17 so that this retaining arm is held to be capable of swinging movement and has one end thereof extending through the slotted opening 14; after the manner shown in Fig. 7. The bearing arms 18 and 19 are mounted on the upper side of the supporting arm 3 in such relation that their bearing portions are disposed over the slotted opening 1 1, and a latch member 20 is pivoted on the pin 21 disposed in the bearing portions of the brackets 18 and 19 in such relation that the weighted lower end thereof will swing down to rest against the retaining member 15 where the same passes through the slotted opening 1% and will hold this retaining memher in the position shown in Fig. 1. The remaining end of the latch member .20 is eX- tended above the pivot pin 21 to provide the trip arm 22, but it will of course be understood that due to the fact that the one end of the member 20 is weighted, thismemher will normally swing to the position shown in Fig. 7 and consequently the retaining member 15 will be held at all times in the raised position and will be released from this position only when the latch member may be tripped.

The supporting arm 3 has the notched opening provided at 23 on the lower side thereof adjacent to the position occupied by the free end of the retaining member 15 when the same is brought to the raised position and this retaining member is provided with a substantially ball shaped end which is brought into the notch opening at 23 when the retaining member is raised to the position in which it is held by the latch member 20. An open ring 2 1, which in the present instance is shown as being substantially rectangular in its main outline, is provided with a snap hook 25 which is connected therewith in a manner to be received through the ring or loop adjacently provided on the end of a mail bag, and thisopen ring 2 1 has an extension as indicated at 26 which is so shaped that it may be fitted in the notched opening 23 and then when the retaining member 15 is brought to the raised position and is secured in this position by the latch member 20, the ball end of the retaining member will bear against the ring and will retain the same in the mounting as shown in Fig. 1 where the bag 27 is supported to depend from the ring 2% and this ring in turn is held in suspension from the supporting arm 3.

An opening 28 is provided through the outer-end of the supporting arm 3 and the radially extending notches 29 are formed on the upper side of the arm to radiate from this opening 28 in line with and at right angles to the longitudinal extent of the arm 3. The bag catching member 30 which comprises the plate 31 with the horns 32 and 33 extending in opposed relation therefrom have a rib or boss 3% formed on the lower side thereof and an opening is provided through the plate 31 and through the boss or rib 34 to receive a bolt 35 by which the catching member 30 is pivoted to be capable of swinging movement upon the end of the arm 3. A coil spring 36 is mounted around the bolt 35 above the plate 31 and consequently the member 30 may be turned to raise the rib 3% from the grooves 29 and when the cross grooves are encountered this rib will be forced into the same and the catching device will be held with the horns 32 and 33 extending in line with the length of the supporting arm 3'. By this arrangement of the parts, the catching device may be swung so that the horns 32 and extend on opposite sides of the supporting arm 3 when it is desired to bring the catching device 30 to the operative relation, and when thesupporting arm 3 is to be swung back against the side ofthe car, this catching device 30 may be moved or turned to such a relation that it has the horns thereof lying parallel with the line of extent of the supporting arm 3 and consequently the supporting arm may be swung back to lie against the side of the car, in which relation it may be locked by the hook 37 which is passed through the opening 38 of the arm 3. It will of course be understood that the. pin 13 must be first released before the arm can be swung to the position adjacent to the side of the car.

The supporting post 2 has the arms 38'and 39 mounted thereon to extend horizontally and toward the track 40 on which the car 1 travels, and as is shown in Fig. 1, these arms 38 and 39 are spaced apart, the one being disposed somewhat higher than the placing of the supporting arm 3 on the car and the other being disposed somewhat lower. It is the intention that these arms 38 and 39 shall carry the mail bags to be taken by the train device,and also it will of course be understood that means must be provided to trip the bag holding means of the train device and to thus cause the mail bags as carried by the train device to be discharged, or released therefrom.

\Vith the above in mind, the spring bag holding members 11 and 12 are connected at the outer ends of the arms 38 and 39, which arms are made of such length that the mail bag 43 as supported-thereon is disposed outside of and beyond the positioning of the mail bag 27 as carriedby the train device. An open ring 4 1 which is practically identical with the ring 24 is connected with the upper end of the mail bag43t0 hold thesame in suspension as this ring is carried from the spring retaining member 41, and by the mounting of the ring in this manner the same is disposed in such a relation that as the train device passes the ground device, one of the horns of the bag receiving device 80 will pass through the ring 44 and will engage the same by the shoulder d5 or 46, which engagement will cause the ring 44: to be taken from the hold.- ing device 11 and consequently the bag will be released from the holding device 42 and will be carried by the train device. To prevent the bag from becoming disengaged from the receiving device, it is preferable that the horns 32 and 33 have the crooks 4-7 and 48 formed therein and as the ring 14 comes within the one crook or the other, it will be held against displacement from the horn.

As has been stated above, it is preferable that the arms 38 and 39 be made of such lengths that they will extend out only suiiiciently far that the bag receiving device 30 can have the horns 82 and 33 thereof passed through the open rings as, and consequently the main portions of these arms 38 and 39 do not project sufficiently for the trip arm 22 of the latch member 20 to be struck as the ground device is passed. It is understood, as has been hereinbefore set forth, that the mail bag 27 will be retained in the position of suspesion from the arm 3 as long as the latch member 20 is in the position shown in Fig. 7, and when it is desired to release the ring 24 so that the mail bag 27 can be discharged from the train device, this trip arm 22 of the latch member 20 must be tripped. To accomplish the desired tripping action, the branch arms 49 and 50 are secured to extend from the supporting member 38 and sufliciently beyond the end thereof that they will be in the path of the trip arm 22 of the member 20 as the car passes the ground device with the supporting arm 3 in the outwardly extending relation.

As the trip arm 22 may be struck to throw the member 20 to the inoperative position, the ring 24 will be released so that the bag 27 will fall from the train device, and it is therefore preferable that the receiving rack 51 be mounted on the ground adjacent to the track 40 in such relation that as the bag 27 is dropped, this bag will fall into the rack 51. It is desirable that the rack be made of sufiicient length that the mail bag Will be set to fall thereinto, irrespective of the direction in which the train may be traveling. and to stop movement of the mail bags within the rack 51 and to insure that they will not overcarry, the partition rack or abutment 52 is mounted within the receiving rack 51 and is extended above the top edge of the same. If desired, the rack 51 and the abutment 52 might be made in such arrangement that they could be folded to thus remove the obstruction from along the side of the track, and under some circumstances it might be found desirable to even provide a pit for the rack 51 so that no obstruction whatever would remain when the rack is folded. It is desirable that where mail bags are to be delivered from and taken by the train device, the mail bags be first dropped therefrom and then that the bags shall be taken from the ground device, and by arranging the arms a9 and 50 inthe branched relation as is shown, the latch member 20' will be tripped slightly in ad Vance of the release of the bag in consequence of which the bag 27 will be discharged from the train device before the bag -13 is taken from the ground device.

lhe operation of the several parts and the manner in which they cooperate to accomplish the proper result has been rather clearly set forth as the description of the parts has progressed, and it is therefore not deemed advisable to indulge in repetition as to the manner in which the several parts are actuated, moreover, it will of course be understood that while we have herein shown and described only one specific form of the apparatus, a number of variations and modifications might be resorted to in the form and arrangement of the several parts and in the connection of the same Without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and hence we do not wish to be limited to the exact disclosure but rather only to such points as may be set forth in the claims.

We claim:

1. A mail bag delivering and receiving apparatus comprising a supporting arm, means by which said supporting arm is mounted on the side of a car to be capable of limited swinging movement and to be permitted to move to extend substantially at right angles from the side of the car, mail bag supporting and delivering means carried by the end of the arm, bag receiving means mounted on the loose end of the supporting arm to extend laterally therefrom and arranged to be capable of swinging movement to be disposed substantially in-line with the longitudinal extent of the supporting arm, and means arranged to hold the arm adjacent to the side of the car as the same may be swung inwardly subsequent to the setting of the bag receiving means in the last mentioned relation.

2. A mail bag receiving and delivering device for trains comprising a supporting arm, means by which said supporting arm is mounted upon a car to have swinging movement and to be capable of setting at right angles to the side of the car, means to positively hold the supporting arm in the position of extension, a bag catching memher mounted on the end of said arm to be capable of swinging movement and provided with bag receiving horns extending on opposite sides of the swinging center, means by which the bag receiving member may be set and held to have the horns eX- tend laterally from the arm into operative position and also to extend in line With the length of the arm so that the same may be swung to lie fiat against the side of the car, and means to secure the arm in the folded position against the side of the car.

3. A mail bag receiving and delivering device for use upon a car comprising a supporting arm, means by Which said supporting arm is mounted to be capable of swinging movement to extend substantially at right angles to the side of the car, means to secure the arm in the position of extension, bag receiving means carried by the arm, said arm provided with a notched Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents.

opening on its lower side, a' retaining member mounted on the arm to be capable of swinging movement and to be brought to a position to retain the ring of a mail bag within the notched opening, and means ar-.

Witnesses to signature of Louis V. Eckert:

J. D. ALLEN,

C. I. IRELAND.

Witnesses to signature of J. F. Burke:

JOHN VARNUM, C. L. VARNUM.

Washington, D. C. 

